Deuteronomy 24:1-4 is often used as a key Old Testament text on divorce and remarriage. This passage draws special attention because it was the focus of a Jewish debate about divorce in Jesus’ time and the background of Jesus’ discussion with the Pharisees on marriage (Mark 10:1-10; Mat 19:1-12). In interpreting this passage, four particular questions need to be answered: 1) To what עֶרְוַת דָּבָר (“nakedness of a matter”) in verse 1 refers and how does its meaning affect the overall teaching of the passage? 2) What “defiles” the woman? 3) Why is it “an abomination” if the woman remarries her first husband after a second marriage and divorce? 4) What was the purpose of the legislation in Deuteronomy 24:1-4? The thesis of the paper is that legislation in Deuteronomy 24:1-4 serves to discourage divorce among the Israelite people and deepens their understanding of the true nature of the marriage union. The major objective of this specific Mosaic legislation was not to replace God’s original intent of marriage as a lifelong union of a man and a woman, but merely to provide direction where the Creator’s original design for marriage was not followed. Throughout …show more content…
The example shows the married woman who loses her husband’s favor because of עֶרְוַת דָּבָר (“nakedness of a matter”). In the Old Testament, the only other occurrence of this phrase is in Deuteronomy 23:15 ( עֶרְוַת דָּבָר ), where it is used as a euphemism for excrement. The context of this verse deals with the need for maintaining toiletry arrangements in the camp of the Israelite soldiers, so that the Lord “may not see nakedness of a matter” and “turn away” from Israel. By regularly observing instructions for external cleanness, Israelite soldiers would be reminded of the Lord’s holiness. This background shows that the phrase “nakedness of a matter” contains the idea of improper or indecent
Bill Cosby once said that, “For two people in a marriage to live together day after day is unquestionably the one miracle the Vatican has overlooked.” J.J. Lewis (1995-2009) This famous comedian could not have been more correct when recognizing that every marriage will face a multiple number of challenges and is often difficult. Couples, once married, must find a way to end any struggles in order for the marriage to be successful. Marital traditions have changed greatly over the centuries and due to this, the opinion of what an ‘ideal marriage” consists of has changed as well. When reviewing the document “On Love and Marriage” the author (a Merchant of Paris) believes that marriage should not be an equal partnership, but one that pleases the husband to avoid conflict. This can be clearly seen through an examination of: the social, and political environment of the late fourteenth century, and the merchant’s opinions on the area of obedience to a husband, and how to avoid infidelity.
Regularly characterized as monsters, women were ridiculed for being sexually unappeasable, lustful, and shrewish, and they were regarded with condescension by the church authorities. Similarly, people in the medieval era regarded multiple marriages as highly questionable, and it is for this reason that the Wife of Bath carefully examines the words of God as revealed in scripture (revealing her to be more than a simple-minded woman: a knowledge of religious texts proves she is definitely educated and well-read). She confesses that nowhere can she find a stricture against her having more than one marriage, and her five husbands are therefore her choice and hers only. “He seith to be wedded is no synne:/ Bet is to be wedded than to brynne”, she remarks humorously, drawing on the fact that by God’s permission, finding a partner through marriage is a pastime with little consequences, for it is better than engaging in sin and burning for it (50-53. 301). This begins her analysis of the bible and the often “sinful” breakdown of a sexual relationship between man and woman, and introduces her repetitive idea of the
During the Middle Ages the Catholic Church was the epicenter of most people 's lives and it influenced them greatly, and their rulings shaped many societies. In order to encourage civil relations and less greed and bloodshed the Catholic Church installed a rule of no longer allowing divorce. For some time divorce was used in order to sever ties with your spouse when they couldn’t provide an heir, land or financial gain, or as much as another suitor. This led to many divorces and serial marriages, bloodshed and out right injustice. Some may argue that these marriages weren’t entered in with high regards to such a hefty commitment knowing that it could simply be ended whenever either spouse pleased.
Exodus 21-24 was definitely quite an instructive piece of literature. It was almost raw in its nature as a text or “book” but more of reading an excerpt from a piece of non-fiction most similar to an instruction manual of some sort that you get when you buy a dissembled bike or desk. Something like being enrolled in a police academy there was definite sense of a master-slave relationship in the air. It is like something never before seen in the Torah, these chapters showed a whole new YHWH. The YHWH who is feared like the school principal in an elementary school, not even mom and dad has come on so strong as to the dos and donts of living life. It seems as if YHWH was pushed to such a point where YHWH has no choice but intervene into the lives of his children, and set the rules for the pl...
Trible has three main focuses in her article that include, “the inferiority, subordination and abuse of women in ancient Israel”, “the counter literature that is itself a critique of patriarchy”, and “the stories of terror about woman” (Trible). Each one sums a different oppression that women in the Bible faced. These ideas suggest that the overall purpose of her article is to identify that while women were viewed as a “helper” to men, God viewed them as much more (Trible).
Chapter two is mainly about the roles of men and the roles of women in the bible. He focuses most of his time in the Old Testament. He talks about how God meant in the garden for it to function like a marriage. He says that the idea of marriage is ancient and that Israel ruined it because they participated in polygamy, divorce, and homosexuality. He mentions that God in start of genesis talks about the roots and the institution of marriage; which is doing the will of the creator and the consequences being the fall of humanity on the married couple. He mentions song of Solomon which is about the ...
Web. 10 Sep. 2011. . “Marriage.” Judaism 101: Marriage. Web.
The flaw that is made hear is the assumption that the reader views the Bible as uninspired by God. Actually, many Christian denominations view the Bible as the inspired word of God. God used imperfect people to create the Bible. Consequently, the previous verse from Genesis is God 's definition of marriage even if the person who wrote those words did not practice
The negative view of the female sex continues in Leviticus, in a section dictating the re...
The Pardoner says to his fellow pilgrims that he “use[s] the same old text (Bible), as bold as brass” to preach “Radix malorum est cupiditas” (243). Translated into English, the Latin means “Greed is the root of evils,” a quote from the Book of Timothy. He uses this first principle to derive the rest of his moral framework, which abhors and condemns all forms of drunkenness, lust, greed, and sloth. Similarly, the Wife of Bath uses the selfsame text to justify her Dionysian philosophy. She explains that one may marry as much as one wants, since “wise King Solomon of long ago…had a thousand wives or so,” arguing that St. Paul’s prohibition against many marriages is “no commandment in [her] view” because it is just “advice” (259,
From the book of Proverbs, we are also told that God designed marriage and sex not only as a means for bringing children into this world, but also as God's appointed means for a man to find pleasure in his wife. In the New Testament, we are told that Jesus attended a wedding in Cana of Galilee and miraculously provided wine when their supplies were exhausted. The Apostle Paul also had a great deal to say about the covenant that God ordained between man and woman. Paul assumed that elders and deacons would be married and have bare children. Paul also encouraged younger widows to marry and he claimed the right as an apostle to lead a wife.
Cindy Pereyra The Pentateuch Dr. Luther 5 May 2014 Deuteronomy Study Assignment 1. Read Deuteronomy 16:18-20. a. Describe the requirements of judges in Israel based on this passage. In this passage, the requirements of judges in Israel are shown. The people are told to appoint judges and officers for themselves in all the towns that the Lord is giving to them according to their tribes.
God intended for us to be united with the opposite sex since the beginning of time. The book of Genesis tells us: "God created man in his image, He created him in the image of God, man and woman, He created them. God saw what he had done and said, "This is good, it is not good that man should be alone."(McLachlan 5). Marriage is inherently good and pleasing to God. It was part of God's original plan for mankind. It is also shown that Jesus held marriage in great esteem, for it was at a wedding where he performed his first public miracle. Furthermore, it is Jesus who raises Marriage to a Sacrament of the New Law. Our Lord is also the one who told us that divorce was wrong. He says, "What God has joined together, no human being must separate."(Matrimony 1).
The purpose of this paper is to argue that, Christians should never turn to divorce unless the specific criteria in the Bible is met. In today's society divorce has become more and more accepted. In fact, a study done by the American Psychological Association shows that roughly 40 to 50 percent of American marriages end in divorce. Divorce has been shown to have extremely harmful repercussions on some of the children and spouses alike. In some cases, those harmful repercussions range from dropping out of high school, severe depression, constant anxiety, abnormally high stress, intense sadness, and more common in teens, rebellion as a way to try and “get back” at their parents.
Divorce was (frowned) never allowed in the past due to religion, but over time our societies had changed and the churches were forced to allow some reasons for divorce. In (dates wrong 1986) the beginning of the 1960s divorce rates had increased” substantially, “although in the early 1990s it had begun to decline” (Steinberg, 2014, p. 138). In 2008 then Canadian government declared that 40.7% of marriages wouldn’t last till their tenth anniversary. This had started to create a change in family structur...